Jehovah’s Witnesses Anonymous

The Watchtower leadership has long claimed that writing anonymously keeps the leadership and writing department from being glorified and that all the glory must go to Jehovah and not to them. At first blush this seems rather noble. However if you look at their true motives you’ll soon begin to realize that they aren’t so noble.

If I were to require that you accept and treat as gospel everything I publish without credentials or even names of the contributors being published, could I deceive you? Would it be easy?

That is the problem with the Watchtower. They aren’t held to any accountability with regard to their writings. You simply can’t accuse someone of lying in print if you don’t know their name!

Another advantage of anonymity is this:

If a particularly productive and talented writer or illustrator suddenly turns apostate (this has happened many times. Ray Franz wrote the Aid To Bible Understanding) they can simply disfellowship them, kick them out of Bethel and replace them without anyone being the wiser.

The presses never stop!

Back in the early 80’s it came out that there were hidden symbols embedded in the illustrations of some of the Watchtower and Awake publications. The leadership denied it (of course) and claimed that these were merely coincidental much like looking at clouds and seeing a shape or image in them.

Of course the most damning evidence that these were in fact embedded images is the fact that they stopped immediately once they were “outed”. The illustration style changed as well. One has to wonder if they gave him a chance to finish his lunch before they disfellowshipped him and walked him to the door.

This account is interesting in the context of the Watchtower’s recent snafu regarding their highly publicized and much criticized membership in the United Nations as an NGO.

The day the story came out in The Guardian newspaper the Watchtower’s leadership immediately moved to close out their membership in the UN.

They gave no public explanation as to the reason for their membership in the United Nations AKA The Wild Beast. They did, however, move through “back” channels giving several vague explanations as to what happened in order to avoid a total meltdown of the rank and file.

The most widely used explanation (read deception) and the one I hear most often, was that a researcher at Bethel had a library card at the UN and because they used their library, the Watchtower was inadvertently listed as an NGO with the United Nations.

This explanation was passed along verbally among all rank and file JW’s instead of being addressed publicly. Why? Because it couldn’t be questioned or validated! It wasn’t published so nobody could take them to task.

This tool is used by politicians and governments all the time. It is also used by the not so “faithful or discreet slave”. It is a close cousin to anonymity.

Two words: Plausible deniability.

If anyone came out and accused the WT of lying about this they could simply say:

“We didn’t say it. This was a rumor passed around by our members.”

They used it back in 1975 when their much publicized and highly criticized prediction of Armageddon failed to come to fruition! Instead of owning up to their own mistakes they blamed the rank and file and said they were all jumping to their own conclusions.

How does any company or organization gain NGO status as a member of the United Nations?

They have to apply for that privilege and they have to turn over their financials.The president of the organization has to sign the application along with other board members. This isn’t something a lowly researcher can do. The Watchtower leaders at the highest level of the organization had to apply for this status with full knowledge of the consequences if their actions were ever made public.

Do you realize that to become an NGO member of the United Nations you have to agreein writing to help the UN with disseminating its ideas and principles? Yep it is right there in the application!

Talk about conspiring with Satan himself!

Why would the Watchtower leadership risk all of this?

You’ll get the answer to that question when you ask the question behind the question:

“What did NGO status in the UN do for the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society?”

It gave them “rock star” status with certain developing nations as well as nations that refused to recognize Jehovah’s Witnesses as a religion (like France).

NGO status is the ultimate “back door pass” for any organization looking to expand its power and influence in other UN member countries.

When you become an NGO member of the UN you suddenly get faster and better government cooperation, both here and abroad, regarding a host of things including building permits, tariffs, favorable trade status, taxes, legal status, recognition of rights, easier customs entry, easier shipping and receiving.

Just about everything a company does with regard to international trade becomes immensely easier when they apply for and are granted NGO status.

I and many others believe that this was the reason why the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society took the calculated risk of joining the UN.

As in most man made cults “the end justifies the means”.

This really gives you and I tremendous insight into the Jehovah’s Witness mentality. This is all public knowledge. It was printed and disseminated internationally by a well known and respected British newspaper.

The article was never addressed or challenged by the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society. Yet if you or I ever bring it up to a rank and file JW they will say that it is utterly false or that it was simply a misunderstanding. There is also a high likelihood that they will accuse you and I of conspiring with apostates and abruptly stop the conversation.

The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society can do anything it wants to do and the rank and file simply won’t question it at all.

The only thing that keeps their power in check is their need to be recognized by “the world” as a respectable religion. They can’t afford public relations nightmares anymore than any other publishing company.

Yes this “anonymity” and its cousin “plausible deniability” have both been quite useful to the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society for the past seventy plus years and will continue to be so.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address

About Me

Hi I'm Doug Shields.
I was a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses for twenty-three years of my life. I finally realized that they didn't have "the truth" and I left the organization.

That decision cost me members of my family, my friends, my reputation, and in some respects, my identity. I had to rebuild my life one brick at a time.

Today I'm a happy, productive, and highly fulfilled person.

The purpose of this blog is to help others who are experiencing strained or broken relationships, self destructive behavior, addictions, depression, and low self esteem as a direct result of involvement in destructive mind control cults.

I hope you find this blog to be as helpful to you in reading it as is to me in writing it.